Congressman Jeb Hensarling's blog
Posted at 1:13pm on Dec. 17, 2007 Massive Spending Bill Bad for Taxpayers
By Congressman Jeb Hensarling
Late last night, Democrats released a massive 3,565-page FY 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill (which means that 11 spending bills have been combined to form one massive bill) that is expected to be voted on later today. This means that members will not even have the ability to read the bill before knowing what they are voting on. This is hardly the way to do business if spending accountability is a priority.
After spending all night trying to review this enormous bill, I can say that this legislation is a bad for deal for American taxpayers, American families and the fiscal future of our children. Unfortunately, Democrats squandered an opportunity to work together on a clean bill that is free of wasteful earmarks and budget gimmicks.
Just three years ago, then Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called the refusal to allow Members three days to read legislation before voting on it ‘martial law.’ Abandoning her word, Speaker Pelosi is now engaging in ‘martial law’ herself by trying to forcing this bill through Congress before anyone knows exactly what is in it. What could they be hiding?
Earmarks? Check.
Please read on...
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Posted at 3:52pm on Nov. 6, 2007 THE OPPOSITE OF TRANSPARENT: Taxpayers being “Daschled” by Democrat Spending bill
By Congressman Jeb Hensarling
Later tonight, Speaker Pelosi and the rest of the Democrat Leadership will bring an 853-page Labor-HHS/ Military-Veterans Conference Report to the floor of the House. This bill will include secret earmarks that were inserted after both the House and Senate voted on the different spending bills included in this larger Conference Report.
What does that mean? It means that these earmarks were not able to be seen by most of the members of the House and Senate. Along those same lines, Speaker Pelosi, Majority Whip Steny Hoyer, and Democrat Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel brought this 853 page bill to the floor without allowing Members of Congress even a single day to read it.
Read on . . .
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Posted at 11:35am on Oct. 25, 2007 Are You Ready to Help Fight the Democrats’ “Mother of All Tax Hikes?
By Congressman Jeb Hensarling
This morning, as Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel and House Democrats introduce the "Mother of all tax hikes," – which will increase taxes on hard working Americans by over $1.3 trillion –Congressman Paul Ryan, Congressman Michele Bachmann (R-MN), and Congressman John Campbell (R-CA) and I (the authors of the RSC's Taxpayer Choice Act), wrote an op/ed for the New York Post on our bill that would repeal the AMT while offering taxpayers the opportunity to become part of a 21st Century tax system that is fair, simple, efficient and, above all, accountable.
Congressman Rangel is right about one thing - the current tax system screams out for reform. The problem is that he and other Democrats in the House want to reform it to help Washington instead of the American taxpayer. Contrary to Democrats’ wishes, you don’t help taxpayers by raising their taxes. The debate over repeal of the AMT is going to center around one key question – who is going to get the $841 billion that Americans will be forced to pay if it remains untouched. Democrats believe the government is entitled to it, we believe the American people deserve to keep their own money.
Republicans disagree with the premise that taxpayers must be forced to pay to repeal a bad policy. We disagree with Democrats in the House who want to pick and choose certain groups of taxpayers to be penalized for Washington’s mistake. That is why the Republican Study Committee has introduced the Taxpayer Choice Act, which will fully repeal the AMT while providing taxpayers the choice and opportunity to become part of a 21st Century tax system that is fair, simple, efficient and, above all, accountable.
This is Nancy Pelosi’s Washington – increasing funding to expand failing Washington bureaucracies on your dime. The American people don't really care how the Congressional Budget Office may choose to score the these different bills, or how the Joint Tax Committee may choose to score it. And I know that people are tired of Washington budget gimmicks. That is why we remain focused on how the American people will score it, and if their paycheck has the same purchasing power next year that it had this year and yet the tax bite is more, that is a tax increase.
Democrats will use a lot of rhetoric about their forthcoming AMT bill, one thing is clear – they will punish one group of people through a massive tax increase. No matter how you choose to look at it, robbing Peter to pay Paul is still a huge tax increase on the American people. Instead of Congress picking and choosing the winners and losers in the tax code, we’d like to let individual taxpayers decide what is best in their interests, and what is right for them. It will be interesting to see how the members of the Blue Dog Coalition will react to such a massive tax increase. It seems to me that if their bark is as big as their bite, Mr. Rangel, Speaker Pelosi and Democrat leaders might need to hire a dog catcher. Perhaps Red State readers might call up Blue Dog Coalition member offices to find out just where they stand.
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Posted at 12:57pm on May 10, 2007 It's Time For Democrats to Fund Our Troops
By Congressman Jeb Hensarling
As you know, Democrats will again bring two bills to the House floor that have no chance of becoming law. I know it, you know it, they know it, our Military knows it, and sadly, our enemies know it.
In one instance, Democrats would immediately withdraw from Iraq (H.R. 2237) and in the other would limit funding for American troops and reveal a two-month surrender date to America’s enemies (H.R. 2206).
Just when you start to think the Democrats can't shock you any more, the manage to top themselves. Democrat leaders in the House have now wasted months on surrender bills that not only will be vetoed, but in the words of Senator Reid, won’t even be passed by the Democrat -controlled Senate.
Though the Pentagon requested funding for American troops 94 days ago, Democrats continue to withhold needed resources from our troops in order to score cheap political points. Secretary Gates has now noted that the Democrat two-month funding bill would force a shutdown of "significant" parts of the Department of Defense because they’d be unable to pay salaries.
Enough is enough.
Read on . . .
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Posted at 10:31am on May 3, 2007 The Veto Pen is Out and Ready - Hate Crimes Legislation Constitutionally Suspect
By Congressman Jeb Hensarling
Friends, today the House of Representatives will debate the "Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act," (H.R. 1592). Yesterday, former RSC Chairmen John Shadegg, Sue Myrick, and Mike Pence joined me in sending a letter on behalf of the 100+ House conservatives in the RSC to President Bush requesting that he veto the bill AND include a veto threat in the Statement of Administration Policy.
This morning, the White House agreed with our letter, and agreed the bill is unnecessary and constitutionally suspect, and noted that the "President's senior advisors would recommend he veto the bill."
The text of the letter is below.
Read on . . .
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Posted at 5:29pm on May 1, 2007 The Democrats' Reality Crisis
By Congressman Jeb Hensarling
They say that you can have your own opinion, but you can’t have your own facts. Yet, Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and the Democrat caucus are really trying to test the validity of that claim.
Speaker Pelosi has said that she feels “sad” that the President says al-Qaeda is operating in Iraq. Just last week, Steny Hoyer said “The Administration and Congressional Republicans now disingenuously claim that the fight in Iraq is primarily against al-Qaeda,” before back peddling in front of another audience. Senator Harry Reid has said (what hasn’t Harry Reid said?), “We have to change course [away from Iraq] and turn our attention back to the war on al-Qaeda and their allies.” And John Murtha has said, “We cannot win this… al-Qaeda is a small part of this.” The current issue of the New Republic takes a deeper look into their troubling words.
People across America should call their offices and ask whether they actually believe the claims they are making – because if they claim that they do - one of two things must be true. They are either intentionally misleading Americans about the reality in Iraq for political gain or they haven’t a clue about what is actually going on the ground in Iraq.
Read on.
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Posted at 9:20am on Mar. 21, 2007 A New Contract - The American Taxpayer Bill of Rights
By Congressman Jeb Hensarling
As Democrats continued bickering over how much pork they each need to vote for an "emergency" spending bill that will start Rep. Murtha's "Slow Bleed" strategy to choke off funding for our troops, the Republican Study Committee launched the American Taxpayer Bill of Rights.
Members of the RSC are working to start a grassroots effort to ensure that leaders in Washington never forget that tax money belongs to the taxpayers, not the governmen. By adopting four simple principles to protect all taxpayers, we hope to set the stage for discussion in these areas.
Today, FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey will host a rally and press conference on Capitol Hill to announce support for the our measure. Mr. Armey, the former House Majority Leader and main author of the Contract with America, will be joined by Members of the House and Senate, Americans from across the country, and representatives from: Citizens Against Government Waste; National Taxpayers Union; Students for Saving Social Security; the American Conservative Union; Americans For Prosperity; 60 Plus; the Free Enterprise Fund; the Club for Growth; and the Heritage Foundation to rally support for tha cause.
This morning, the Wall Street Journal featured an op/ed that I wrote. If you have a minute today, give it a read and let me know what you think.
To be successful in this venture, we are going to need your attention, your support, and your energy. I hope that those of us in Congress who understand your frustration can count on you to help us start the debate.
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Posted at 12:21pm on Feb. 5, 2007 The Budget and Entitlement Reform
By Congressman Jeb Hensarling
Today, President Bush submitted his FY2008 Budget to the Congress. Conservatives should rally behind the President's goal to balance the budget within 5 years without raising taxes. This budget should be used as a floor, not a ceiling, and serve as a starting point in the budget process. Congress once again will have the opportunity to restrain runaway spending, reform earmarks and restore the fiscal discipline that you expect in Washington. I will, once again, be vocal in my effort to achieve those goals.
Read on . . .
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Posted at 1:40pm on Jan. 22, 2007 Democrat Contradictions on the War in Iraq
By Congressman Jeb Hensarling
Earlier today, I called on Speaker Pelosi and Democrat leaders in Congress to clarify contradictions in regard to their position on the war in Iraq. Specifically, I was speaking about their resolution that states: “it is not in the national interest of the United States to deepen its military involvement in Iraq, particularly by escalating the United States military force presence in Iraq.”
Just last week, Speaker Pelosi told ABC News that Democrats will not cut off funding for America’s troops. Now, her Democrat majority is declaring that President Bush’s plan to move forward in Iraq is "not in the interests of the United States." How can the Democrat majority choose to fund something that they believe is against the interests of the United States? If they do not support America’s mission in Iraq and choose to attack it publicly, they should at least have the conviction to vote that way. Second, as the majority in Congress, they must offer a plan that they feel IS in the interest of the United States.
As the majority party, they control the votes and they must offer something more than just political criticism of the President. That is not to say that the President is above criticism - he is not. People have legitimate questions and concerns about our future in Iraq, and we must address them.
But right now, Speaker Pelosi and the Democrat majority in both chambers of Congress are telling families of American servicemen and women that "we don’t believe this will work, but we will send your children to Iraq anyway." I believe that military families deserve better, our troops deserve better, and frankly you deserve better.
There is no doubt that a lot of good people have different feelings about the proper way forward in Iraq. And there is no doubt that we all have the right to discuss those feelings and ideas. But to move forward, I think that Speaker Pelosi and the Democrat majority must explain these contradictions that send mixed messages not only to our nation, our military and our allies - but our enemies as well.
Posted in Congressional Contributors | War — Comments (69) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 12:38pm on Jan. 19, 2007 100 Hours of Big Government
By Congressman Jeb Hensarling
Sadly, very little was accomplished for people and families across our country. There was one big beneficiary though, and that was the federal government.
Speaker Pelosi and her Democratic Majority (even the 'moderate' Blue Dogs voted to expand the reach of government) have made clear that they will work to expand government dependency and control at the expense of individual empowerment, incentive, and private enterprise.
In the span of 100 hours (or is it somewhere in the 40's?!?!) the Democrats tried to: empower the federal government to set drug prices that are already being successfully negotiated in the free market; federally fund research that destroys human embryos; federally mandate a higher wage that will keep younger workers from job opportunities; push students into a federally run bureaucratic loan program; and federally impose billions in fees and taxes that will cost American workers jobs and cause millions of Americans to become even more dependent on foreign oil. That is a whole lotta federal.
Rest assured that it seems highly unlikely that any of these initiatives will actually become law in their current form. But make no mistake, this "100 hours" must serve as a reminder that Democrats will always try to grant the government greater control over the free market and decisions that should be made by you and your family.
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Posted at 5:45pm on Jan. 10, 2007 Minimum Wage Or Maximum Opportunity
By Congressman Jeb Hensarling
That summer, I decided to take my first steps into the real world. Eager to take on the responsibilities of adulthood (and more-so to get out of working in my father’s chicken farm) I took a job at the Holiday Inn in College Station. It was hardly glamorous, but I was happy to work for a few bucks.
I thought that my timing couldn’t have been better – not three weeks after taking that job the Federal Government decided to give little-ole’-me a wage increase. I couldn’t have been happier, I was going to make even more money. Though I was thrilled at the time, I would soon come to learn the unintended consequences a mandated federal wage increase would have on entry level workers like me.
Read on . . .
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Posted at 2:03pm on Jun. 26, 2006 A Matter of Priorities
By Congressman Jeb Hensarling
I wanted to thank y'all for your thoughts on last week's post, where we discussed the Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 2006, which the House passed on Thursday. Make no mistake, I completely understand your frustration with bloated federal spending. I'm frustrated too. But we must do everything in our power to help slow the growth of government and stabilize spending. This debate is about corralling the hogs and slicing the pork out of the budget. Though it is not a panacea by any means, Rep. Ryan's Line Item Veto Act will help and will be another tool in the fiscal responsibility toolbox.
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Posted at 11:28am on Jun. 20, 2006 Legislative Line Item Veto - A Needed Tool for Savings
By Congressman Jeb Hensarling
Later this week, the House of Representatives will debate the Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 2006 (HR 4890), authored by my friend Paul Ryan (R-WI). The bill would provide the President with a budget savings tool similar to that which almost every governor in the nation currently possesses. It enables the President to identify questionable and wasteful earmark projects that are slipped into spending bills so that Congress can vote separately on their merits.
Read on . . .
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Posted at 1:50pm on Jan. 13, 2006 Shadegg for Majority Leader
By Congressman Jeb Hensarling
I am pleased to announce my support for John Shadegg to be the next Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. He is a strong, effective and principled conservative leader who truly understands the need for renewal and reform.
As the new Majority Leader, John Shadegg will help the Republican Conference retain and strengthen our majority based on the principles that won it: limited government, fiscal discipline, individual freedom, and a strong national defense.
John Shadegg understands that we need reform and a renewed commitment to our conservative principles in order to restore the confidence and support of the American public.
I know and respect each candidate in this race, and I appreciate their willingness to lead our conference at this important time.
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Posted at 10:36pm on Nov. 2, 2005 Taking a Small Step Toward Freedom
By Congressman Jeb Hensarling
Promoted... Congratulations and thanks to Congressman Hensarling for defending our right to free speech. Also - the Speaker has promised that since we got a majority - he's bringing it under regular order
As many of you might have just witnessed on CSPAN, the House voted 225 to 182 on the Online Freedom of Speech Act (H.R. 1606) -- a majority but less than the two-thirds required for a "suspension" bill to clear the House.
I am encouraged that this important legislation received the support of a clear bipartisan majority. Most Members of Congress support protecting free speech on the Internet. Without this legislation, I fear that the cold, callous, and clumsy hand of federal regulation may stifle political speech online.
We proved that we can pass this bill in the House under regular order. Working with leadership, I hope we can achieve this worthy goal before the FEC issues new regulations that will prohibit Americans from exercising their First Amendment rights over the Internet.
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